Publications50

..Apart from careful clinical observation, serum level monitoring of AEDs and psychotropic drugs can be useful in determining the need for dosage adjustments, especially if there is any change in seizure control, or possible toxicity...

Clinically significant drug interactions with antidepressants in the elderly

..These findings indicate that reboxetine has minimal effects on the metabolism of clozapine and risperidone and may be added safely to patients receiving maintenance treatment with these two antipsychotics...

Plasma concentrations of risperidone and 9-hydroxyrisperidone during combined treatment with paroxetine

..Evaluation of relationships between serum antipsychotic drug concentrations and clinical response may provide valuable information for rational dosage adjustments. For risperidone, this relationship has been little investigated to date...

Plasma concentrations of clozapine and its major metabolites during combined treatment with paroxetine or sertraline

..While sertraline may be added safely to patients on maintenance treatment with clozapine, careful clinical observation and monitoring of plasma clozapine levels may be useful whenever paroxetine is coadministered with clozapine...

Relationship between plasma concentrations of clozapine and norclozapine and therapeutic response in patients with schizophrenia resistant to conventional neuroleptics

..Monitoring plasma clozapine concentrations may play a useful role in the management of patients with schizophrenia, but information on the relationship between the plasma levels of the drug and response is still controversial...

The effect of lamotrigine augmentation of clozapine in a sample of treatment-resistant schizophrenic patients: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study

..The findings provide evidence that lamotrigine augmentation of clozapine treatment is well tolerated and may be proposed as an effective therapeutic strategy to improve outcome in treatment-resistant schizophrenia...

Antidepressant drugs and seizure susceptibility: from in vitro data to clinical practice

..No differences were found between clozapine and quetiapine at each assessment time. The UPDRS score decreased significantly ( p<0.05) in the clozapine group, while was almost unchanged in the quetiapine group...

Prescribing pattern of anti-Parkinson drugs in Southern Italy: cross-sectional analysis in the years 2003-2005

Laura GalattiDepartment of Clinical and Experimental Medicine and Pharmacology, Section of Pharmacology, University of Messina, Messina, ItalyPharmacotherapy 26:1190-2. 2006

..During the following year, the patient remained free from neuropsychiatric disturbances. Clinicians should be aware of possible adverse cognitive reactions during statin therapy, including rosuvastatin...

Antidepressant drugs: prevalence, incidence and indication of use in general practice of Southern Italy during the years 2003-2004

Edoardo SpinaSection of Pharmacology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Messina, Messina, ItalyClin Ther 30:1206-27. 2008

..Rather, concern about drug interactions with second-generation antidepressants is based on their in vitro potential to inhibit > or = 1 CYP isozyme...

Effect of topiramate on plasma concentrations of clozapine, olanzapine, risperidone, and quetiapine in patients with psychotic disorders

Gaetana MigliardiSection of Pharmacology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Messina, Messina, ItalyClin Neuropharmacol 30:107-13. 2007

..To investigate the effect of topiramate on the steady-state plasma concentrations of the second-generation antipsychotics--clozapine, olanzapine, risperidone, and quetiapine--in patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder...

Use and tolerability of newer antipsychotics and antidepressants: a chart review in a paediatric setting

..Safety data from elderly patients appear to be promising. Due to negligible hepatic biotransformation, paliperidone ER is unlikely to be involved in clinically significant metabolic drug-drug interactions...

Sertindole: pharmacological and clinical profile and role in the treatment of schizophrenia

..46 times for atypicals. Clinicians should be cautious in prescribing phenotiazines and butyrophenones in elderly patients, since the risk for stroke would seem comparable or even greater than with atypicals...

..However, higher doses of fluvoxamine may elevate plasma risperidone levels, presumably as a result of a dose-dependent inhibitory effect of fluvoxamine on CYP2D6-and/or CYP3A4-mediated 9-hydroxylation of risperidone...

Inhibition of risperidone metabolism by fluoxetine in patients with schizophrenia: a clinically relevant pharmacokinetic drug interaction

..This interaction may lead to toxic plasma risperidone concentrations. In addition to careful clinical observation, monitoring plasma risperidone levels may be of value in patients given adjunctive therapy with fluoxetine...

Plasma concentrations of the enantiomers of fluoxetine and norfluoxetine: sources of variability and preliminary observations on relations with clinical response

..Our findings confirm the results of previous studies and indicate that the addition of olanzapine to ongoing treatment with serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRI) may be beneficial in some patients unresponsive to SRI monotherapy...

Lack of a pharmacokinetic interaction between mirtazapine and the newer antipsychotics clozapine, risperidone and olanzapine in patients with chronic schizophrenia

..However, higher doses of sertraline may elevate plasma risperidone levels, presumably as a result of a dose-dependent inhibitory effect of sertraline on CYP2D6-mediated 9-hydroxylation of risperidone...

Quetiapine and clozapine in parkinsonian patients with dopaminergic psychosis

..This study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of quetiapine and clozapine in parkinsonian patients with dopaminergic psychosis in a randomized, open-label, blinded-rater, parallel group trial...

Neuropsychiatric reactions to drugs: an analysis of spontaneous reports from general practitioners in Italy

..In conclusion, the present study carried out in general practice underlines the importance of neuropsychiatric ADRs and reminds GPs to pay attention to this kind of toxicity when they prescribe pharmacological agents to their patients...

Antipsychotic prescribing pattern among Italian general practitioners: a population-based study during the years 1999-2002

..To assess the antipsychotic use and the prevalence/incidence of antipsychotic drug users in Italy during the years 1999-2002. To estimate the persistence with antipsychotic medications, and to measure their off-label use...

Plasma concentrations of risperidone and olanzapine during coadministration with oxcarbazepine

..Serotonin 2C receptors (5-HT(2C)) have regulatory effects on dopaminergic pathways in brain regions involved with EPS. Polymorphisms in the 5-HT(2C) gene (HTR2C) have been suggested to be associated with the risk of developing EPS...

Improved enantioselective assay for the determination of fluoxetine and norfluoxetine enantiomers in human plasma by liquid chromatography

..Standard curves are linear for each enantiomer (r(2)>/=0.992) over the range of 10-1000 ng/ml with a limit of quantification of 10 ng/ml for each enantiomer. Within-day and between-day CV% are </=10% for each enantiomer...

Allele and genotype frequencies of CYP2C9, CYP2C19 and CYP2D6 in an Italian population